A Dragon's Flower
by Inc0mplete
Summary: A "Beauty and the Beast" inspired fanfiction. Prince Natsu turned away the wrong woman, and now he has to pay the consequences.
1. Chapter 1

There once was a dragon. A large fire breathing dragon just like the ones in your fantasies. He had magnificent wings that allowed him to soar high above the sky and beyond the clouds. His body was covered head to tail in wonderful ruby red scales. But, this was no ordinary fire breathing dragon. No, this dragon was _enchanted._ And it all started...

 _Once upon a time, on a snowy winter nigh_ _t..._

 **Knock, knock, knock!**

A series of rapid knocks startled the guard by the large castle doors out of his sleepy state of mind. The moon was high overhead from what he could tell but it was snowing hard tonight. Who in their rightful mind would be out in this kind of storm? He looked to his companion with unease. "Should we open it?" He asked, confused. The person on the other side knocked rapidly once again, as if telling them to hurry up and let him/her inside the castle. "I don't know," the other guard said hesitantly. "Should we go ask the King about it?" The first guard questioned. The other guard shook his head. "His Majesty is probably already asleep. Best if we just ignore the person I guess." The first guard nodded but felt something in his gut telling him that ignoring the poor soul outside wasn't the best idea.

 **Knock, knock, knock!**

The two guards looked to each other but this time, they didn't say a word.

 **KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!**

The knocking had gotten louder and faster, more desperate. "If whoever keeps knocking, they'll wake the whole damn castle," the first guard hissed. The second guard shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about it. They'll just have to leave." With that, the two fell into silence again but not for long before the knocking had come back with full force. "What's going on here?" A new voice asked. The two guards turned to the newcomer and immediately bowed down. "My Prince," they said in unison. The man frowned. "What's going on?" He repeated. He was in his chamber when he heard the loud noise coming from the front entrance of the castle. Seriously, people were trying to sleep.

"There is someone outside, Sir. But we were hesitant and did not want to open the door. We were hoping that the person would eventually give up and leave but-"

Three more rapid, loud knocks interrupted his sentence and the Prince's frown grew even deeper.

"Open the doors," he command.

The guards looked to each other then back to the Prince. "Right away."

The two got up and took away the heavy wooden plank from the handles. They proceeded to open the door with caution and flinched when a blast of icy wind and snow hit their face. There in the snow stood a hunched over figure wearing a dark red cloak. The Prince narrowed his eyes upon seeing the mysterious figure covered in a thin layer of snow. "Who are you," he demanded none too gentle. "I am but an old woman who seeks to find shelter. My Prince, would you be so kind as to let me stay for the night?" A raspy voice asked, harsh to the ears. The man did a look over at the beggar. The cloak hid most of her features from from what he could tell, she really did look homeless.

"ANd what will you give in return for shelter?" He asked, crossing his arms over his well toned chest. The woman, as if she had expected him to say that, pulled out from under her cloak a single Gracidea flower. "I will give you this flower in return for shelter for tonight. It is the symbol of gratitude," she explained. The Prince did not like that one bit. "Crazy woman! You must be out of your mind," he yelled. "Do you honestly think that I would let you stay for a mere flower? Get out of my sight!" The guards looked to each other. Poor lady. "Please, sire, I have no where to stay. Do you not see the storm? Hear the howls of the wind?" She begged.

And indeed, the storm tonight was vicious. The wind was relentless, swaying trees with enough force to topple them to the ground. The snow had already covered the ground and was steadily rising in height. But the Prince paid all of this no mind. "I do not care for your troubles. Leave at once!" He ordered. Then the old beggar woman pushed off the hood of her cloak to reveal a beautiful raven haired woman. "You foolish, selfish prince," she sneered. His eyes widened. "I am the sorceress, Ultear, and I have come from the corners of Magnolia to see if the rumors of the selfish prince was true. And it is true indeed." The Prince took an uneasy step back.

"What do you want?" He asked, surprised at how steady his voice was. The woman let out a spine tingling laugh and produced a round orb. "Tell me, young prince, what is it that you see?" She asked, thrusting the orb into his face. He squinted then he was vaguely able to distinguish a shape. He licked his lips and looked up to the sorceress. "A dragon," he said. She lips quirked up into an evil smile.

"Then a _dragon,_ you shall be!" She declared. "W-what?!"

With a wave of her hand, he was suddenly engulfed into a bright light. "M-my Prince!" The first guard stammered in shock. The two scrambled backwards in fear of the sorceress. "What is going on here?" A loud voice boomed. The two turned to see the King and the Queen standing there with angered looks on their faces that were quickly replaced with horror.

" **ROAR!** " The Prince turned dragon bellowed.

He let out a great roar as he unfolded his wings, making the guards and his parents take a step back. "Oh, yes, yes, yes. What a magnificent beast," Ultear sneered gleefully. "By your 21st birthday, this Gracidea flower shall bloom. With each passing year, till you find love, one petal from the flower shall fall. By your 26th birthday, if you have not yet found love, the last petal will fall and you shall forever remain a dragon!" Ultear let loose a laugh that did not suit her.

"What have you done to my son?!" The Queen cried out, tears in her eyes. "Your son has gotten what he was deserved," Ultear spat. With that, she threw the flower on the snow covered ground. "But I am feeling merciful today, so I shall put your castle and your kingdom to sleep and shall only be awoken when the young Prince manages to find love. Or else...you will _never_ wake again!"

The Prince's eyes widen in horror as he watched his parents drop to the ground in an eternal sleep. "Until you have found a place in your cold heart to learn to cherish someone, you will never see your parents awake again," Ultear said, a sadistic smile on her face.

"Now Natsu, I hope by your 26th birthday, the flower does not die."

And just like that, she disappeared. The only thing left behind was a dragon and a single flower on the steps of the castle.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, looks like Number 12 is coming in close to the finish line! Wait...wait...oh! And number 7 has once again won the annual Horseback Riding Championship!" The announcer said loudly into the mic. The crowd went wild, screaming and whooping in excitement. The winner, Number 7, grinned as she took off her helmet, her blonde locks flying everywhere as the cool summer breeze picked up in the tracks. "Good job boy," she praised her horse, patting him on the back He was her most prized horse, a brown stallion that she had found rejected by the farmers she got him from. His mane was black and he stood up to 6 feet tall.

"Congrats."

She turned around to see Number 12, her long time rival. "You came in pretty close," she said, smiling at the man. "Yeah but not close enough," he snorted. The blonde giggled and reached over to punch his arm playfully. "Yeah well, I am the best after all Rouge." The dark haired man sighed. "Must you remind me everytime Lucy?" He asked sarcastically. "Of course I must,"she declared. "After all, Sagittarius and I _are_ the best on the field."

Rouge sighed. "Whatever."

"Lu-chan! You did amazing!" A happy voice chirped. Lucy looked down and saw her long time best friend, Levy grinning up at her, holding flowers in her arms. "Levy! I thought you said you couldn't come today," she said, her eyes sparkling in excitement upon seeing her best friend. Levy giggled. "Like I would miss this." Lucy smiled brightly and was just about to reach down to take the flowers before Sagittarius snorted and sniffed the flowers, paused, and then took a bite out of the beautiful bouquet.

Lucy gasped as her horse ate her present. "Sagittarius," she exclaimed, somewhat amused. Levy, however, was not amused. "Stupid horse!"

.

Lucy sighed as she flopped down on her large king sized bed. She was so tired. She loved horseback riding, she really did, but the aftermath of winning a race was just tiring. All the picture taking, flower receiving, and people wanting to pet her horse took a lot out of her energy. _But, at least I won,_ she mused, flipping over so that she was now lying on her stomach. "Lucy!" A loud voice called out. Her father.

"What is it Daddy?" She called back, hoping that he wasn't going to tell her to go to some other fancy party, again.

"Come down here!"

She sighed and slowly dragged herself out of bed. She sighed again as she slowly made her way downstairs to see her father waiting at the foot of the staircase.

"Lucy, what took you so long?" He grumbled. "Nevermind that. Here," he said, holding out an envelope out to her. She looked at it with a raised brow but her father simply shrugged. She took the envelope and slowly inspected it. It was made out of white millennia and it was laced with gold decorations. The seal on the back was wax and red, with the letters _N.D._ engraved into the wax. "N.D.?" She thought out loud, throwing a confused glance towards her father who, by the looks of it, did not know who or what this _N.D._ meant.

"One of the maids found it in our mailbox outside after you had won your race. Maybe it's a fan?" He suggested. Lucy nodded. "A fan with really fancy envelopes and old fashioned wax-to-seal traditions," she mumbled. "Hey! I still do that and it's _not_ old fashioned," Jude protested. Lucy giggled and waved her father off. "Uh huh. I don't want to rip this," she said. Then, as if suddenly having a change of heart, she tore the wax seal off the envelope in one violent move. "What happened to not ripping it?" Jude mused.

Lucy rolled her eyes and peeked inside. There was a single piece of paper folded into three. She took it out and unfolded the paper.

 _Fate has much in stored for you._

She turned the paper around to find the other side blank. It was just seven words on a white paper.

"What does it say?"

She handed the paper over to her father who read it and then chuckled, handing the paper back to her. "Didn't know your fans are fortune cookies Lucy," the blonde man said, clearly amused. "Don't worry. It doesn't even mean anything. Just throw it out," he said lightly, shaking his head. Lucy gnawed at her bottom lip. Somewhere in her gut, she knew that this held some deeper meaning than just those seven words. She glanced at it again, the seven words written in beautiful cursive letters.

Jude rolled his eyes at his daughter. "Remember the last time you believed in a fortune cookie?" Lucy looked up. "Uh...no?"

Jude gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Exactly."

The man smiled once more at his daughter before walking off to his office to continue with more work.

Lucy sighed, looking one more time at the paper, before deciding that her dad was probably right about this. "Hm, I feel like riding," she said out loud, her voice echoing through the large room. Normally there would be maids and servants bustling around the seemingly endless lobby of the mansion but today, many of them took days off to visit friends or family for their week long vacation. Lucy did, however, spot her personal favorite and was actually kind of glad that the girl hadn't taken the week off.

"Virgo!" She called out, waving from the stairs. The pink haired maid looked up from the painting she was fixing and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "Hime," she greeted politely. Lucy rushed over to her. "I want to go riding right now. If I'm late for dinner, tell my father to call me okay? And here, take this and put it in my room somewhere, maybe on my desk or bed," she instructed, handing her the paper and envelope.

Virgo nodded and gingerly took the two pieces of paper.

"Please be safe, Hime," she warned, watching as Lucy rush out the door. "Yes Virgo!" She called back, throwing her a quick smile and a wave.

.

"Woah boy! Calm down a little," she said, startled as she gripped onto the reins tighter. She tugged on the leather strap in her hands and managed to get Sagittarius to slow down into a nervous trot. She glanced up at the sky that was quickly becoming dark with clouds and a cold wind rustled trees as it passed by. "There's a storm coming. Let's head back, come on!" She jerked the reins and soon the two were racing back to the mansion and the stable. It didn't sound like much but their distance they travelled was quite a lot.

The Heartfilia manor and the entire land around it took up 30 square miles. Their ranch took up a good 3 square miles, which may not sound a lot, but when you think about it, there was plenty of space for her horses to run. Today, since it was after a race, Sagittarius was feeling more energetic, more lively, and ran almost half of the whole ranch.

Going back and making it before it started to pour was not going to be easy.

"Come on boy, you can do it!" Lucy encouraged, keeping her body steady and her control of the horse beneath her stable and firm.

All of a sudden a large clap of thunder resounded, scaring the horse who reared up in fright. With a surprised yelp and a startle shout, Lucy fell off the horse. The last thing she did see before everything went dark was her prized brown stallion galloping off to the direction of the manor.


	3. Chapter 3

The dragon's ear twitched in annoyance. He stood there in a clearing patiently, his wings tucked at his sides. The sun's harsh glare was beating down on his ruby red scales. The forest was silent, something unusual for the area. It was usually a lively place with animals everywhere and the breeze passing by every so often. Today, however, was different. There was no chattering, no scampering, no breeze.

The small blue animal on top of his head mewled. "Natsu," he whined cutely, poking at his ear. "Not now Happy," the red dragon growled lowly. The small blue cat on his head pouted, his blue fur slick with sweat. "But Natsu, it's really hot out here," he complained, spreading himself out on the dragon's head. The dragon didn't reply to his blue companion, but instead, kept his gaze steady on the one thing in front of him.

The small cat whined softly but did not make any move to say anything again, knowing just how important it was today.

It was early in the morning when they had found her. The two had just been soaring above the forest, eager to reach the lake on the other side. The lake provided them with everything they needed. Drinking water, baths, and most importantly, their food supply. It may sound disgusting, eating fish all the time, but if they could survive, it was all that mattered. Besides, the lake occasionally carried seasonal clams and oysters, how, they had no clue. Natsu missed the luxuries of his past life but he knew that he would never get it back.

Till today.

The two had gone for their usual trip to the lake to grab some food, when Happy had spotted her. It was weird really, where they found her. She was lying on her side, by the edge of the forest. Happy saw her when he saw a flash of bright gold and decided to fly down and investigate. At first, Natsu didn't think anything of it. Everyone in the kingdom had fallen asleep under the cursed spell, perhaps the poor girl had been going through the woods when it happened. Then Happy decided to point out a few things.

"First of all, it was snowing really hard," he mewled. Then he had pointed to the girl. "And look at what she's wearing. It's hardly fit for autumn, much less the snow storm. While we're talking about how she's dressed, look. Nobody in our kingdom has ever seen clothing like that. She's showing so much skin." And what he said was true. The girl by the forest was dressed weirdly, something Natsu had never seen before. She had on a simple white tunic but the sleeves were missing and the neckline plunged too deep for Natsu's comfort. She had on trousers, which was not even the insane part since girls aren't even supposed to be wearing trousers in the first place. The trousers she had on only reached down to mid thigh, covering almost nothing at all. On her feet were the strangest pair of shoes the dragon prince had ever seen.

Happy had smirked at Natsu with a knowing look. "She's a foreigner Natsu! She could be the one to finally break your spell!"

Needless to say, the two had missed their breakfast, waiting in the hot clearing for the girl to finally awake. Happy groaned softly, just woshing for the blonde to wake up already. He had been here for hours. He was sure it was noon already and he was tired. Not to mention the fact that they both didn't eat breakfast yet.

Then to his utter relief and slight surprise, a soft groan was heard. Natsu's ears twitched automatically and he shifted, craning his neck to examine the girl in curiosity. The blonde groaned again, and her arm moved to seat herself on her elbows. Natsu almost jumped back in surprise. Could you blame him though? It's been four years since he had seen a human being move. That's right. Four years. That meant that the third petal had fell. Only two remained on the Gracidea.

The shriek of the girl jarred him back to reality. He winced as the loud, high pitched noise hurt his highly sensitive ears. "Oh look! The weird girl woke up!" Happy said excitedly, spreading his wings and drifting down to the floor in front of the girl. She screamed again.

"Owie, why are you screaming weird girl?" Happy meowed, holding his ears. Natsu agreed silently. Why was she screaming so much?

She screamed again. "WHY IS THERE A TALKING CAT?!" She screeched loudly, her eyes wide. "Oi, all cats talk, stupid," Happy grumbled. Her eyes were probably budging out of their sockets now. "Cats do not talk! And not even talking, cats are not blue and cats _definitely do not fly."_ Happy turned to the large dragon behind him with a frown. "She's weirder than we thought she would be," he said seriously. Natsu couldn't help but to let out a laugh, well the best a dragon could do for a laugh.

Then the blonde's eyes looked past the abnormal talking cat to realize that she _forgot_ there was a dragon standing before her. She had somehow _forgot_ that there was a big, red, probably 60 ft tall dragon standing, sitting whatever, right in front of her! She swallowed thickly, her eyes wide, and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't even scream because her voice just wouldn't come out. As she stared in fear at the large dragon, she wondered if she had went crazy.

She _did_ fall off her horse. And she probably hit her head while going down. Yeah, that's right. She was probably just hallucinating. She let out a crazed laugh that had the cat and the dragon look at each other with unease. "Wow I sure did hit my head pretty hard," she giggled, struggling to stand up. "Hallucinating a dragon and a talking cat." She giggled loudly and leaned against the tree behind her for support as she shook her head.

"Um Natsu? I think she's a lost cause. She's kinda...crazy," Happy said, his face saying it all. Natsu snorted. Lucy laughed again. "Did you hear that? Now that thing has a name too. Maybe I am crazy." Natsu felt a little hurt. She had openly called him a "thing." Well, she did seem a bit off so he supposed it was...the appropriate response. Natsu snorted loudly, catching the attention of the girl who stared at him. Natsu rose to his full height of 50 ft tall and stared down at the girl who was openly gawking at him. "What is your name?" He asked, his voice coming out in a low rumble.

"Oh so now you can talk too? I knew I'd be an awesome writer," the ditsy blonde giggled, her eyes wild with amusement and a touch of insanity. Natsu stared at her in silence for a few seconds. "I am Natsu, the fire dragon." The blonde laughed loudly. "That's a bit cliche but oh well. A talking dragon and a flying blue cat is good enough." Happy flew down to her eye level and said firmly,"You need mental help."

Then, as if something had snapped, the blonde looked at them both with wide eyes, as if just realizing the situation she was in.

She promptly fainted.

Natsu sighed. This was going to be a long year.


	4. Chapter 4

When Lucy opened her eyes again, it was already sometime in the evening. The sky was beginning to get dark as the sun sank below the horizon. She sat up, still dazed and a bit tired. Lucy held her hand up against her temple, groaning as she felt a massive headache settle in. "What happened?" She asked outloud. All she could recall was the race that had happened earlier the day - and her winning. "But what happened after that?" She wondered to herself.

As she sat there, thinking and trying to piece together the past few hours, she heard the door to her room creak open. The blonde looked up, thinking it was Virgo. "Virgo! Thank goodness you're here. I was just won..." Her words trailed off as she stared openly at the blue cat by her doorway. She rubbed her eyes, then looked up again. Still, the blue cat was there, staring back at her as if she were stupid. She blinked and stared back. The two looked at each other in silence and Lucy sat there, her brain not catching up to what her eyes were seeing.

"So...are you hungry?" The blue cat asked casually, stepping fully into the room with a plate of what seemed to be some sort of fish with wings? Lucy blinked slowly, at first in confusion. Was that a fish? With wings? What? Wait...more importantly, was that a _blue_ cat? She was pretty sure cats did not come in blue colors. Most importantly, however, Lucy was one hundred percent sure cats definitely _did not talk._ "Oi, excuse me, I asked if you were hungry," the cat repeated in irritation, raising an eyebrow at her, his blue tail swishing back and forth behind him.

"Are you...talking?" Lucy asked dumbly. The blue cat rolled his eyes at her, as if she just asked the stupidest question he has ever heard of.

"Yes I'm talking! You've never met an exceed before? Weirdo. Humph," he pouted, strolling casually into the room with the plate of fish. He hopped up onto the wooden night stand by the bed and set the food down, looking quite proud of himself. He grinned at Lucy who subtly scooted away from him. "Um I'm sorry but what did you call yourself? An exceed?" By now, the blue cat was seemingly irritated by her lack of knowledge and simply ignored her question. "You must be hungry! Eat the food before it gets cold. Natsu cooked it for you!" He chirped happily. Lucy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

She felt like a stereotypical blonde girl, not knowing anything and always confused. "Who's Natsu?" She asked the blue cat. "And what's your name? I don't want to call you blue cat." The exceed sighed and sat down on the night stand next to the plate of food. "Natsu's the one who saved you! He's out hunting for food right now but he'll be back in a few," he informed her. "Oh, I see. But you haven't answered my question, what's your name?"

The blue cat grinned at her once more. "I'm Happy!" Lucy smiled at his name. "Happy huh? The name suits you I suppose. Well, my name is Lucy Heartfilia." Happy's eyes widened. "Your last name is Heartfilia?" He asked in amazement. Lucy tilted her head to the side, not sure why he was asking her about her family name. After all, she wasn't of this world and she had no affiliations with this place until just recently. Happy didn't answer her silent question but simply hopped off the wooden stand and waved back to her.

"Hey, where are you going?" The blonde asked, she didn't want to be left alone in this strange place, even if her only friend as of now was a talking blue cat. "I'm going to go find Natsu. Stay here and don't wander around!" Happy yelled as he dashed out the door. As if a blue cat wasn't strange enough, a pair of snow white wings sprouted from his back and he took off, soaring out the window across from the room she was staying at. She stared at the empty space in shock and mild awe for a few minutes before she swallowed her confusion and turned to the plate of fish he had provided earlier.

"Well Lucy, you've just witnessed a flying, talking blue cat. I don't think anything could get weirder than this," she sighed out loud to herself. With that being said, she eyed the strange fish on her plate and picked up the fork. "Well, bon appetit."


End file.
